In any case, the plan had already been drawn up. As for how to implement it specifically, they would have to play it by ear. The broad direction was set, and that wouldn't be wrong.
Three years passed, slowly but steadily.
There were even rumors that at the upcoming God King Lords' Assembly, someone would propose changing the name of the Grand Primordial World altogether.
This piece of news left even
Changing a world's name — you were either a genius or a madman.
Unless you possessed the ability to refine and claim an entire great world for yourself, changing the name was nothing short of courting destruction. Without the original Creation Tokens to authenticate the change, that great world would be struck from the rolls of the myriad heavens, reclaimed by the Heavenly Dao. That would be true annihilation beyond redemption.
The so-called Shattering of the Myriad Heavens from before had really been a shattering of governance — the collapse of the Celestial Emperor's dominion over the Grand Primordial World.
But the Shattering of the Myriad Heavens after a renaming — that would be the literal destruction of the world itself.
This was no joke.
"This mastermind behind the scenes is either a genius or a madman," Jiang Chen sighed. "If he had the power to refine an entire great world, why would he bother clinging to the Grand Primordial World like this?"
But Jiang Huan shook his head. "It's absolutely impossible that he has the power to refine a great world. The only one with that ability is His Majesty the Celestial Emperor. If anyone else had it, they would simply go and found their own great world, obtain the Heavenly Dao's recognition — wouldn't that be far more convenient and far more satisfying? Why resort to such underhanded means to seize power? And this person can't even seize power with any dignity. He still hasn't shown his face to this day. After the Calamity of the Myriad Heavens, how many people have sat on the Emperor's throne? Yet not a single one of them was the mastermind!"
"Uncle Huan, how can you be sure that none of those Emperors was the mastermind?"
"Ha! If any of them were the mastermind, would they have been willing to step down? Besides, some of those Emperors have already fallen." Jiang Huan had gathered a truly impressive amount of intelligence over these past days.
Jiang Chen, however, shook his head. "I don't think we can be that blunt in our reasoning. All is fair in war. The mastermind behind the scenes could very well be someone who once held the throne. If he's cunning enough, he might have tested the waters first — realized he couldn't hold the position, and stepped back down. Who would know? Even something like 'death' can be faked. Faked deaths are far too common to count."
At this, Jiang Huan broke into a grin, looking at Jiang Chen with open appreciation. "Well said! You really are His Majesty's son — your mind works faster than mine. And honestly, once you put it that way, it really does seem quite possible!"
"Mm. No matter who the mastermind is, the way things stand now, he should start emerging from the shadows before long. The key point is that the situation in the Grand Primordial World keeps deteriorating. As the tide of events pushes forward, more and more God King lords will come to miss Father's rule — and that shifts the balance further in our favor."
"Exactly right. And when the time comes, if you appear on the scene bearing the Creation Tokens of the myriad heavens, carrying the identity of the Celestial Emperor's son, and claim dominion — no one will be able to object. There will certainly be many God Kings who cherish peace and are weary of conflict who will stand with you and offer their support."
"And when that time comes, I'll rescue Father from the Eternal Divine Prison. The great picture will be settled!"
Over these past days, Jiang Huan had gathered countless pieces of intelligence, and the whereabouts of the Celestial Emperor of the Grand Primordial were apparently no longer a secret within the Grand Primordial World.
In fact, this information had spread remarkably far and wide.
In Jiang Chen's analysis, this was very likely something the mastermind had deliberately allowed to leak — baiting the Celestial Emperor's former loyalists into attempting a rescue.
And the Celestial Emperor had been imprisoned, yet the Creation Tokens had not been found on him. That meant the Tokens had probably been entrusted to one of his most trusted confidants.
This sort of luring-the-fish-onto-the-hook trick was likely designed to force whoever possessed the Creation Tokens to reveal themselves.